Essex County Greenbelt has recently released Exploring Sea Level Rise and Coastal Resilience, a video featuring stunning Essex County vistas and taking a look at how climate change will affect the North Shore. Part of a larger project funded by a Coastal Resilience grant from the Massachusetts Office of Coastal Zone Management, the video includes interviews with local experts and Greenbelt staff and volunteers to explore local impacts of sea level rise and flooding.
The video, available below, explores sea level rise’s threats to natural systems and coastal properties like the Cox Reservation, and Greenbelt’s innovative work to address climate change. It includes some gorgeous imagery of the Allyn Cox Reservation in Essex, the Great Marsh, and the Essex River.
Essex County Greenbelt works with local individuals, families, farmers, and communities to protect the farmland, wildlife habitat and scenic vistas of Essex County. Since 1961, Greenbelt has protected nearly 18,000 acres of local land.
In addition to the video, Greenbelt also produced two climate-themed story maps featuring photography, video, narrative, and interactive mapping. These beautifully designed virtual pamphlets make it easy to learn about Greenbelt and what they do, breaking down topics in easy-to-comprehend ways.
The Climate Partnerships story map explains a diverse group of projects underway throughout Essex county addressing and mitigating climate change. The Sea Level Rise and Coastal Flooding story map tells local climate stories and allows users to explore sea level rise and coastal flooding projections in their communities.
“The Massachusetts Office of Coastal Zone Management was pleased to award Essex County Greenbelt Association its first Coastal Resilience Grant last year to collaborate with communities on identifying land conservation priorities focused on coastal ecosystem preservation,” said Coastal Zone Management (CZM) Director Lisa Berry Engler. “CZM looks forward to building on this partnership to help increase long-term climate resilience in this region.”
This work was performed by Greenbelt’s Land Conservation Department, spearheaded by Abby Hardy-Moss, Conservation Planner & GIS Manager and Dave Heacock, Geographic & Technical Support Specialist.
“Land conservation has emerged as an effective and cost efficient tool to help our communities respond to climate change,” says Hardy-Moss. “Greenbelt is excited to be incorporating resiliency planning into our conservation work.”
To learn more about this project, visit ecga.org/CoastalResilience. To learn more about Essex County Greenbelt and how to get involved, visit ecga.org.